SPLEEN is the personal blog of Stephen Judd

Sorting out my inner confusion on this whole terror raid thing

The events of October 15 and their sequelae have been obsessing me ever since. I'm especially bugged because I feel deeply conflicted and confused. My passions are aroused but I don't really know what I think and what I should do. So I thought to myself, I should try and write down everything that I think is an issue and try and sort through it bit by bit. I think that's going to take me a while, and maybe new information will come out that will make this all moot anyway, but what the hell.

I think the biggest source of confusion for me is that there are lots of different serious things in play here. Here's my little outline:

The Terrorism Suppression Act and its pending amendment

Civil liberties and human rights

Violence

Maori sovereignty

Race relations

The NZ Police force

Protest and politics

Administration of justice

On some of these heads, eg the Terrorism Suppression Act, I feel fairly confident that I know what's what and that I know where I personally stand. And some of the others are in play and I'm not prepared to commit until I feel I know what's going on.

So, what can I think of this evening?

The Terrorism Suppression Act and its pending amendment

This at least I have my mind made up on. The act is a bad thing, and the amendment bill is worse. Together, they would have made the Springbok tour protestors "terrorists"; they would have been a terrible weapon in the hands of Muldoon; they place too much power in the hands of foreigners and politicians. And this is redundant legislation. Everything a reasonable person would want criminalised, eg planning to blow people up, is already a crime in New Zealand. I see this as our own shameful concession of sovereignty to the big players in the so-called War On Terror, and I don't like it.

Civil liberties and human rights

Freedom of speech. I'm all for that, except maybe if you shout "fire" in a crowded theatre, and you're not an actor in the famous "Fire!" scene of Fire In The Theatre. I'm hearing and reading from various sources in the news media that state eavesdropping plays an important part both in the decision to act and as potential evidence in court. One of those sources, John Minto, suggests that the transcripts are far from credible. I worry about so-called "chilling effects" here. We don't want to live in a world where simply saying stupid things gets you into trouble with the state. I reserve the right to say foolish and wrong things without worrying about getting on a list. This is still a wait-and-see thing though, because nobody outside a very few knows what was in those transcripts.

Privacy. Surveillance, eh? We know that people's cars were bugged, their papers and PCs seized, and in fact I have friends who think their phones are monitored. Pretty obviously we have chilling effects there. I know there are certain circumstances in which it could be necessary to do this to prevent harm, but we don't know if those circumstances obtain here yet.

Freedom of conscience. It's hard not to notice that in some ways most of the accused are "the usual suspects". I know that many in the activist community think that this is some sort of punishment for activism. I hope not.

Freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary detention. Did people locked down in Ruatoki, or held at roadblocks until they consented to be photographed, have freedom of movement? I'm pretty sure that they did not, and it looks like they've lined up a QC who agrees with me. I hope they get their day in court, and that's a cause I'm happy to donate to.

Presumption of innocence. Why aren't people who are only charged with minor firearms offences getting bail? I don't like that either. There had better be credible reasons for that too.

Violence

I have to sleep now. I'm going to pick this up tomorrow. But you know, I'm against it.